« … An internal source in the Quanhe Commercial District of Hunchun City informed us that the customs offices are preparing to close the gate today… »
China has publicly denounced the US’s plans for tightening sanctions against North Korea, but if local media reports are accurate, the world’s second-largest economy has closed part of its border with its isolated neighbor without any external prompting, possibly to help comply with the latest round of UN Security Council sanctions, which took effect last month.
According to Daily NK, « an internal source in the Quanhe Commercial District of Hunchun City informed us that the customs offices are preparing to close the gate today (September 4) , and that Chinese businessmen and merchants staying in North Korea have been notified, » a source in China with knowledge of the development told Daily NK.”
However, the more widely used Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, a road-rail bridge that spans the Yalu river into North Korea, connecting Dandong and Sinuiju and accounting for 70% of the trade volume between the two countries, remains open.
As we reported previously, China has been increasingly scanning for radiation along the North Korean border. According to the Wall Street Journal, China has added stations since 2013 because it fears cross-contamination from the North’s nuclear program.
DailyNK, a South-Korea based website that reports information gleaned from North Korean insiders, speculates that the border closure could be an attempt to “send a message” to the North that it needs to curb its bellicose actions an rhetoric.
